1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wiring harness protector fixing structure to be mounted on an end part of a wiring harness to which a shield member made of metal and fixed to another member is externally fitted.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electric devices such as an inverter and a motor of an automotive vehicle are connected by a wiring harness, for example, in an electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle or the like. As described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-178913, a metal bracket, including a tubular portion into which the wiring harness is inserted, and a shield member formed of a braided wire extending from an end part of the tubular portion are externally fitted to the wiring harness to provide a shield function and prevent the leakage of electrical noise generated from an inverter and the like to outside through the wiring harness. An end part of the metal bracket is fixed to another member, such as the inverter, by a bolt or the like and a wire-side terminal (connector), provided on an end of the wiring harness projecting outwardly through the tubular portion of the metal bracket, is connected to a connecting portion of the inverter or the like.
Since the wire-side terminal provided on the end of the wiring harness is connected to an electrical device such as the inverter, an end part of the wiring harness needs to be protected, particularly from collision with other members to ensure connection reliability. Accordingly, a protector is externally fitting to the wiring harness to protect the end part of the wiring harness.
However, if a suitable mounting member such as a vehicle body panel is not present near an arrangement position of the protector, it is difficult to position the protector on the wiring harness. Thus, there has been a problem that the protector is displaced on the wiring harness and cannot protect a targeted part if the protector is merely externally fitted to the wiring harness.
Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1 of Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-143841, a structure is provided which fixes a protector to a metal bracket by forming a locking rib on a tubular portion of the bracket to be fixed to another member such as an inverter and inserting and locking this locking rib to an engaging groove formed on the inner surface of the protector. Thus, the protector can be positioned and arranged on an end part of a wiring harness and the end part of the wiring harness can be reliably protected.
However, if the engaging groove for accommodating the locking rib of the metal bracket is provided on the inner surface of the protector, there is a possibility that water enters inside through a small clearance between the locking rib and the engaging groove when an outer surface of the protector is exposed to water. Further, if a tensile force of the wiring harness is applied between fitting surfaces of the thin locking rib and the thin engaging groove in a concentrated manner there is a possibility that breakage of an accommodation groove or the like can occur. Furthermore, in terms of waterproofing, it may be necessary in some cases to close a clearance between the tubular portion and the inner surface of the protector by mounting a rubber seal on the outer peripheral surface of the tubular portion of the metal bracket to prevent the penetration of water or the like in the wiring harness from the outside of the protector. In such cases, the locking rib formed on the tubular portion obstructs the mounting of the rubber seal, wherefore there is also an inherent problem of being difficult to adopt a fixing structure using the locking rib.
The present invention was developed against the aforementioned situation and aims to provide a wiring harness protector fixing structure having a novel structure and capable of firmly positioning and fixing a protector to an end part of a wiring harness with excellent durability while improving waterproofness even if a mounting member such as a vehicle body panel is not present around.